The masters of basic instincts
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: A powerful force is heading towards the valley of peace, while Po is away during the events of POD it will be up to the furious five to take control not only of said force but also of their own dark side. A/N: I'm still really angry that the furious five don't appear in the new series.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As always I don't own anything so don't sue

It was a scene crafted from nightmares. A powerful enemy cloaked in shadows came to the valley of peace, a red energy flowed from within it tearing everything it touched apart, citizens ran away in a panic and the furious five were quick to respond and defend its people. All Oogway could see was a dark force hovering over the brave warriors

The old turtle saw helpless how they tried to defeat him by combat but no fight move was able to match his dark magic, it was just too strong. Thinking that the dark force could be defeated by their own abilities they tried to use their chi but the dark being was immune to it since his powers seemed to come from a different energy altogether, without any weapon or even understanding of what they were facing Oogway saw in horrifying detail how the dark presence engulfed them. And for an awful moment all that remained standing was the absence of light.

But instead of killing them the masters were swallowed by the force and consumed by them, they re emerged from the shadows changed, tainted and corrupt. Now they were much more powerful and dangerous than the shadow of their enemy itself and wasted no time in devouring it. Their opponent was no more, it had been vanquished, but at what horrible price.

The furious five, previously known as brave noble warriors were now killing everyone in sight. Inside of them a mighty force that glowed red emanated from their pores, there was nothing left of their souls and minds, only a primal raging desire to consume everything on their past. To feed, it was the only command they followed, not of live flesh but of the untamable vital force that living beings needed to survive.

For them there was no longer right or wrong, no distinction between criminal and innocent, the world now was only for predators and prey and now they were apex predators feasting upon the weak.

Deep in the middle of the golden river Oogway gasped in horror at the vision he had just received, he couldn't believe the universe was telling him that the five would be corrupted and turned into feral monsters. He had seen awful visions from the future before but this one was really different, he used to know what was he facing off against so when warning his students he would be able to guide them towards the right way to defeat their foes.

But now he wouldn't be able to help them without truly understanding what they were dealing with, all he knew is that in his vision they seemed to have been altered by a strange force, one that was glowing red and reducing them to wild beasts.

But what could that force be? It glowed like chi but it definitely wasn't it, it was something of the same species but at the same time completely different.

If he couldn't prevent the five from being attacked and tainted, could the dragon warrior be sent to fight them off once they passed into the dark side? Probably, after all he was the best fighter of them all, but that's assuming Po would have the strength of spirit to hurt his own friends or the cold heartedness necessary for that task. Besides he was on a very important mission already by training his students in the panda village.

Still he couldn't send him into a battle against the unknown, what if he became infected by this dark power as well? Someone with his potential could destroy the world should he ever turn to the dark side. If the masters hadn't been strong enough to fight the force's influence, what is the guarantee the Po can? Oogway didn't know the answers to these questions and it was terrifying, he, the oldest and wisest master of kung fu was lost and didn't know what to do

He reminded himself that panicking would not solve a thing, he needed to meditate and clear his head, trusting the universe to send him an answer, so he did, but he only found silence.

"This is bad news, this is really bad news" He said sadly, a mild trembling in his voice. Maybe now it is the time to panic, he thought slowching defeated at the shore of the golden river. Then for the first time in years he felt rage, the mask of eternal peacefulness he wore was finally shattered. No! He couldn't let this happen, he couldn't allow for his students to fall into darkness, he would stop this even if he had to go to the world of the living and fight the shadows himself.

In a fit of rage he used his jade cane to cut the mirror like surface of the water below him, the golden liquid rippled in disarrayed waves. He hadn't felt this useless and frustrated in centuries, nonetheless for the first time in his life the answers came from rage instead of inner peace. In that moment he realized that if the universe refused to give him answers he would have to solve the problem himself by using his own knowledge.

"Think you old coot" The turtle told himself, this force seems to act like chi, but it isn't chi, it's something else, something primal and destructive. He remembered from old lessons in his youth about how there are at least three vital forces in the animal body, chi is the soul, binding the living and its life force to the earth and the universe, shen is the mind, a bridge between the conscious thought and the dark secrets that hide beyond the universe itself, and jing the primal force that binds the soul to the physical body.

Given the savage nature of what he had just witnessed he guessed the force infecting the five must have been jing, something he knew little to nothing about. He didn't have time to waste, the premonition could take place anytime soon, as far as he knew no one ever managed to tame or even manipulate jing, the force was still considered too rough and basic to obey conscious thought. Yet many years ago, back in his youth, he had known someone who had managed to recognize the power of jing and even came close to manipulate it. It was a wise master that fought beside him at the beginning of the age of kung fu, his previous teacher Sei-lin

He found her deep within the golden floating forest, her beautiful black feathers shimmered in the sun as she flew gracefully on the sky, she looked just as he remembered her. The black swan saw the old turtle at the edge of her territory and dove right towards him, she fell towards the ground at breakneck speed but at the last second she opened up her wings and swiftly landed right in front of him.

Oogway knew she had never cared or even liked shallow courtesies, so he spoke fast and directly "Hello mistress, I came here to ask for your help"

"I know the reason you came here, I have seen the same visions as you, but I will not help you"

"Why not? Many innocent lives are at stake, included my students, I know you would never let them die" He said defiant, at that moment his eyes didn't show the wisdom he had acquired over the years, he saw her just as he had when they first met, when he was a determined stubborn rookie with more potential than brains

"It is because of that, that I won't intervene. For centuries an evil necromancer named Hei'ian has been hoarding the jing that he stole from his victims. He is coming towards the valley of peace to destroy the entire village and feed on their life force."

"My students are strong and noble, if you know a way to defeat him they might turn the tables on him"

"Oh your students can do that and much more, they have a tremendous potential to handle jing, of the likes I have never seen before. You have not one but two wells of power in the viper and the tigress, but the other three are not weak either. Now if you teach them how to manipulate jing they would easily destroy the necromancer, but the contact with his evil force will corrupt them and they will become monsters much worse than the one they fought against"

"So that is your solution? Do nothing and let the warlock destroy the village?"

"If they don't realize of their potential they will die at the paws of Hei'ian as righteous warriors instead of surviving and becoming monsters"

"But what about the necromancer? Who would defeat him?

"Not that precious dragon warrior of yours, his mastery of chi will be useless against him and I know from experience that mixing chi with jing only makes things worse. But a master of shen might be what we need, it is believed that shen is the force of cold hard logic and could overcome the feral instincts of jing. I suggest that instead of trying to save your students you search for a master of shen to do the task"

"That might take time, the village will be destroyed anyway and my students will never reach their full potential!" He said angry and frustrated

"But it won't make things worse, I know you care about your students but if you truly love them then you'll let them die"

"If not doing anything is the right choice then why would the universe send me a warning?"

"Have you ever considered that the universe doesn't always have a plan? Or that if it does it's not a good one? If I recall correctly there used to be a sightseer that warned a powerful prince that a warrior of black and white would be his downfall, as a result the prince commanded a genocide that killed many innocent pandas. One of the survivors landed in a peaceful village guarded by masters of kung fu, fast forward a few decades and the warrior killed the prince, fulfilling the prophecy. I ask you turtle, what would have happened if the sightseer had kept her muzzle shut? What if the prince had managed to become a competent ruler and the pandas were never killed? Is that prophecy worth the lives of all those innocents? You have always believed in destiny, to the point of being blind at what that destiny might unfold. For once in your life tell fait to shut up and take control of your destiny for once, stay quiet and plan for a better solution that doesn't make your students turn evil"

Oogway closed his eyes and shook his head, he had spent his entire life guided by the wisdom of the universe. What she said made sense, reality wasn't good or bad it just was and following it might end in disaster, all his life he had gone with the flow of what predestination had asked of him and it had payed off. Now he had a choice to make between reason and faith. He chose to have faith.

"No I can't do that, I have faith in the plans of the universe and if I was warned then it means I must take action" He said staring deeply into her red eyes.

"It's not faith that you are following, it's your own heart." She said with disdain

"At least I still have one" He said with a glint of mischief in his eyes, only Sei-lin of all people had ever known that side of him

Rolling her eyes she said defeated "Almost a thousand years have passed and you still haven't really changed. You claim to follow the whims of destiny but in reality you just keep nagging and pushing for your own desires until the universe itself caves under your will"

"My desire is that my students and the village is spared, also I wish for the destruction of the evil wizard that's causing so much damage on this earth"

"Very well, as always I'll have to budge under your capricious nature. I'll help you train them on the force of jing. But be warned little turtle, our meddling might as well make things worse"

Smiling relieved Oogway bowed before her "I'll give you my word that I'll make sure no further harm is done than necessary, you will not regret this"

The swan scoffed "I regret this already" She said drily "One of these days you'll realize that you can't have everything you want all the time"

He saw her slender gracious form with a deep seethed longing and a vulnerable melancholy in his deep eyes, oh yes, there were things that he wanted more than anything yet he would never have.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I decided to make this story a sequel to my previous oneshot called "The state of nature" but there will be only a few loose references to that fic, you don't exactly need to read that one to understand this one, at most there will be only a few easter eggs.

….

Master Monkey walked through the main open court of the Jade palace, he was looking for the leader of his group and it wasn't long until he found Tigress meditating at the steps that lead right towards the training hall, the large feline was sitting in a lotus position with a serene expression on her face. He believed she had changed a lot since their last mission to Gorkha, somehow learning the truth about her past had dimmed much of the rage that had plagued her all her life, yet her angry outbursts had now been replaced by moments of melancholy, so far nobody was sure if the change was a positive one.

He knew she had heard him approaching and was waiting for him to speak his business -"Hey I was just wondering if you wanted a cookie"- he said sitting next to her.

Lifting an eyebrow she eyed the pastries suspiciously -"Is this one of your pranks? Last time you offered Mantis those cookies they were seasoned with sechuan pepper"-

Chuckling shyly he admitted -"Not really, it's just that I've gotten used to baking huge batches of these because Po always ate them up but now that he's gone I have to give them away or they will go bad"-

-"I see"- She said a bit awkward and took the cookie, it did taste pretty good. As the light of dawn touched the ancient palace both friends remained on the steps and ate in companionable silence

-"Sooo when do you think Po will be back? He's been gone for a long time now"- he asked hopeful

Tigress looked sadly at the landscape before her and sighed -"Whenever he feels like giving us a visit I guess"-

-"A visit? Don't you mean when he comes back home?"-

She shook her head -"He is already home, out there in the panda village with his own kind. I knew it from the first time we were there, he was so happy to be with the other pandas. I think this mission he took as a guardian of the four constellations has probably made him realize he is finally home, especially since even Mister Ping has followed him there. He really fits in there, much more than he ever did here"-

Monkey's face fell at the realization that they might have, in a certain way, lost one of their friends

-"Well I'm happy for him I guess, but I do miss him"-

-"Me too"-

The moment was interrupted as the emergency horn rang throughout the palace, apparently it came from the main hall. Within minutes all five masters were settled next to the moon pool were Shifu was expecting them, he was looking at them with a serious, stern expression that usually meant the menace they would face was larger than usual.

-"I have bad news, master Oogway has received a disturbing vision of the future and he needs our help to make sure it doesn't happen"-

Just then the ancient turtle materialized in front of them, the five bowed in respect and owe

-"There is a dangerous force lurking at the shores of the yellow river. A powerful wizard named Hei'ian has managed to both harvest and manipulate the force of Jing and if he isn't vanquished soon he could become unstoppable. As of now he is heading with his cursed army towards the valley of peace"-

-"Jing? But I thought it was impossible! I thought that force could never be tampered with!"- Shifu exclaimed clutching his cane

-"Uhh what is Jing exactly?"- Crane asked softly

Shifu explained while using his cane to twirl the peaceful waters of the moon pool, as he did an image of three round lights formed inside, one golden, one red and one of a pale blue.

-"There are allegedly three main forces in all living beings, the delicate balance within them is what makes all life in the universe possible. Chi as you may know is the force of the soul and until this very moment I thought it was the only one that could ever be manipulated."- As he said that the image of the golden light pulsated and flared -"Meanwhile Jing is the force of our most raw and basic instincts, it was thought to be too chaotic to be tamed"- Then the red light flared up as if it burned from the inside

-"Then how do we do this? Would our chi work on it?"- Tigress asked awakening her own chi, as if preparing for battle.

-"Jing can only be defeated by a master of the same force"- Oogway said worried, it was nerve wracking for all the masters to see the wise turtle filled with uncertainty, up till this moment everyone thought he had every single answer at the tip of his fingers.

-"So we have to manage Jing now? It took us a long time to handle chi and we had Po to help us with that"- Mantis complained in a not so mild state of panic.

-"Po is gifted with chi but that will be useless against jing, luckily a friend of mine gave me something that can help you"- He said as a red ball that seemed to be lit on fire materialized in front of them -"This is red jade infused with jing, she believes that you are very gifted already so you could learn to handle the force by merely having a small contact with it"- And with that he gently threw the ball to the middle of the room, at first it levitated there for a few minutes but it didn't take too long for it to chose his target. First it ran through Mantis, it was so fast that the insect didn't even had time to shield himself and like a spark landing on charcoal it soon ignited a fire within him. It was glorious, an amazing power flowed from within himself and he laughed in euphoria as the energy bubbled through him, the laughter sounded maniacal to the other masters and they begun to wonder if this was a good idea.

The insect was quick to mold the red energy into another ball and this time he threw it at Crane, once he took the blow the bird flew into the air laughing and his feathers were ignited as if he were a phoenix.

The bird levitated over his friends without any single air current keeping him afloat, it was just his own raw power. Looking down on him he chose his next victim and created a powerful gust of wind that swept over Viper, when she came in contact with the force it almost looked like she had exploded, her eyes turned red and she grew at least twice her size. Big red fangs sprouted from her mouth and her whole body shined with red energy.

-"Uh guys… is that normal?"- Monkey said as he saw Viper's transformation, when the other two masters came in contact with jing he thought that was pretty cool but when the snake was hit she looked scary.

Shifu might not be experienced with this force but he knew a well of power when he saw one, he had seen the same raw strength in Po when he came in contact with chi. But this was different, chi was a malleable force that could be used for harm but also for healing and growth, jing on the other hand seems like a fire of pure destruction. Someone with this much raw power could be very difficult to contain.

As if reading his thoughts the turtle said -"You are right in being concerned Shifu, and I'm afraid it could get much worse."-

-"What do you mean"-

-"Viper is a powerful well but she's not the only one"-

Without any warning Viper launched herself at Tigress and attacked her, the feline tried to sweep her away with her strong arms but was then bitten and infected by the force. This time the fire took a little more time to spread within her, the large master tried in vain to contain the surge of fire now running on her veins but it was of no use, the fire consumed her and as it did she roared like a savage beast. The power within her was so intense even the floor below her begun to crack and the air around her twirled forming a small tornado.

-"This cannot be good master, one well of power is one thing but two? This could get out of hand really fast, and that's even before Hei'ian arrives"- Shifu told Oogway concerned

The turtle nodded -"There is a warning I was given when I came in contact with this force, it is true that it cannot be controlled so you must know that if your students confront Hei'ian they might absorb his energy and get too powerful for their own good, thus becoming destructive as well"-

-"What?! We can't let that happen!"- Shifu said outraged and turning to see Tigress he saw her growling menacingly at Monkey, the only master that was left untouched. The feline pounced over the helpless simian with her claws outstretched, after a few squeals of pain he was also transformed as his eyes now glowed red.

-"Of course not, we need to find a way to counteract the effects of jing, we need an opposite force that comes from the logic and the mind to rule over the basic instincts."- Oogway said looking once more into the moon pool, in its reflection the light blue ball of energy floating on the surface swirled over itself

-"Do you mean Shen?"-

His old master nodded

-"Has anyone ever managed to manipulate that one? I heard only higher beings could"-

-"The three forces live in all of you but you Shifu, have a powerful spirit, yet neither chi nor jing have shined within you. I wonder if perhaps there is a different force in which you're destined to excel"-

-"Are you actually asking me to handle Shen? But that's impossible, nobody has ever managed to do that"- The red panda exclaimed worried

-"There is a first time for everything"- The old turtle said as cryptic as always

-"I wouldn't even know where to start!"-

Oogway stared at the five and Shifu followed his gaze, once the force fully merged with them they had managed to regain a part of their sanity. Now they stood calm before their masters awaiting for their instructions but within them the savage hunger triggered by jing pulsated demanding more, more of what they yet did not know.

The red panda could see that hunger in their eyes, that microscopic gleam of madness as they fought for control over their own bodies, it was just too much power to handle.

-"Your students are facing a future worse than death, they could become corrupted and end up as the monsters they always fought against, when that happens only a true master of Shen will be able to save them"- And with that he was gone.

Shifu was horrified, he had to be the first animal to conquer a force more elusive than any other technique he had ever encountered. It was an impossible task.

Huh, impossible, he remembered when he told Po everything was possible if you achieved inner peace. The life and souls of his students were in danger, if achieving the unfeasible is the only way to save them then that's what he'll have to do.


End file.
